 The novels loosely parallel Waugh's wartime experiences.The first was "Men at Arms" (1952), the third was "Unconditional Surrender" (1961).Sent back to the UK in disgrace at the end of the first novel, Guy Crouchback — heir of a declining aristocratic English Roman Catholic family—manages to find a place in a fledgling commando brigade, training on a Scottish island under an old friend, Tommy Blackhouse.